Not So Blunt Differences
by Darth-Taisha
Summary: Sequel to Not So Subtle Differences. AU, Itachi and Hinata are newlyweds and Sasuke finds out a painful lesson that love and kunai knives don't mix too well. Itahina and Sasu/Ten/Neji. Warning: May contain crack occasionally...
1. Chapter 1

****Not So Blunt Differences****

**Prologue**

* * *

**Setting: **Sequel to Not So Subtle Differences (NSSD), AU, peaceful times in Konoha about two years after Shippuden, non-massacre. The rookie nine are all around 19 years old, Tenten, Neji and Lee are about 20 and Itachi is in his mid twenties. Takes place approximately two months after NSSD.

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, just having fun with all of Kishimoto's wonderful characters.

**Summary:** I highly recommend you read Not So Subtle Differences (NSSD) before you read this one as I will probably reference scenes from it from time to time.

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**[Valentine's Day]**

Silhouetted against the glow of the moon and street lights up above them, he walked her home. Tenten's eyes were filled with relief when she saw her small house up ahead with her father's weapons shop next to it.

She didn't think she could handle the awkward silence that hung between them for even one more minute.

It wasn't that she regretted rejecting him when he had asked her to dance, it was just that he was now doing something nice for her by walking her home and it made her feel slightly uncomfortable.

It made her feel like maybe she had been out of line and had behaved no better than he had earlier in the evening.

Smiling a little wryly she was forced to admit to herself that she did enjoy putting the arrogant jerk his place. Something about him annoyed her, he was just so rude to the people around him all the time.

Her hand unconsciously began to tighten around the small bouquet of flowers she was holding in her hand from Hinata's wedding.

_I mean, just because he is good looking and an Uchiha that doesn't give him the right to treat people like dirt_, she complained to herself as her eyes began to flash with irritation.

She turned to politely thank him for walking her home and felt herself abruptly pulled into his arms.

"Sasuke, what are you—mmpf" Her outraged question was silenced as his mouth came down on hers. His lips as they moved over hers were warm and…teasing. Gasping a little she opened her eyes wide and stared at him.

Sasuke gave her a slow grin as he lifted his head and looked down at her with a glint of respect in his eyes… against his stomach she held an insanely sharp kunai knife.

"Why did you do that?" Tenten questioned him through clenched teeth as she pressed it harder against his stomach. Sasuke could feel the sharp tip of it through the shirt he was wearing and backed away from her a little.

"I was testing a theory," he told her with a slightly mocking look on his face.

"Whaat?" She yelled sharply as she looked at him like he had lost his mind.

Sasuke stared back at her with coolly assessing eyes.

"You were wrong," he informed her as he began to walk away from her. "I am your type."

Outraged, Tenten stood there and watched as he dissipated and tried to figure out what the hell just happened between them.

Flinging the kunai knife hard at the place where he had disappeared from, she turned and walked toward her house…

**Author's Note**: I almost added this scene into the last chapter of Not So Subtle Differences but I thought I would wait and use it for the beginning of the new story. I am not sure how often I am going to update this one; my other stories desperately need some attention. I mainly just wanted to get something started for this one and ease my way into SasuTen.

Chapter one will definitely have some newlywed Itahina…I am so excited!

**Manga Spoiler**: Yawn, another boring chapter as Naruto dealt with his darker more evil side, he actually gave his bad self a hug and the evil Naruto became good (how pathetic-come on Kishimoto, damn it, move on already!)


	2. Chapter 2

****Not So Blunt Differences****

**Chapter 1**

* * *

**[Time: **2 months after NSSD (Mid April)]

**** Lesson one: **Uchiha's training techniques are dangerous for the general ninja population.

"Fight with the power of youth!" Guy-sensei yelled out in the huddle at the end of team practice.

"Youth!" Lee repeated loudly with enthusiasm.

Mentally and physically cringing at the noise their two hyper-charged team-mates were making, Neji and Ten counted down the seconds until their torture (I mean training) session was over.

"Dis-missed!" Guy-sensei shouted before they all lifted their hands in unison. For extra measure, Lee added a jump to his hand-lifting and rocketed through the air.

_Thank Kami_, Tenten muttered under her breath along with a long-suffering look directed at Neji. A grin formed on her face when she saw he was just as relieved as she was that practice was over. She lowered her eyes with a slight frown when Neji's hand stayed on hers much longer than she felt was necessary.

_Neji?_ She thought as she glanced at him and saw he was looking away from her. Her eyes grew puzzled as she thought how lately he had been touching her more often and sometimes she would feel his eyes on her...

His attention was a little unsettling to her…their relationship has always had well defined boundaries which neither one had ever dared to cross before. A long time ago they had both agreed that they would only be friends; it would just complicate things on the team for them to be anything more…

Feeling she was watching him, Neji turned around and his eyes met hers.

"Great job everybody," Their sensei enthused as he packed up his gear. His voice caused them to look away from each other.

"Tenten and Lee, don't forget to report to training area one for your evaluation."

"Evaluation?" Tenten and Lee asked as they stared at one another.

"Hai, by order of the Hokage, all Konoha ninjas are to receive a skills evaluation."

"Yes!" Lee said brimming over with zeal as he punched toward the sky with his fist. "I finally get to prove that I have become a splendid ninja."

Standing next to him, Tenten seconded those thoughts but in a much more contained way. Still, her eyes contained a glint of excitement at the prospect of showing the leaders of Konoha just how much she had grown over the years.

Guy-sensei watched his pupils with over bright eyes, as he gave them the thumbs up sign. "Lee…Tenten—make me proud."

At seeing his sensei on the verge of tears, Lee immediately choked up and ran to him. "We won't let you down, Sensei, I promise."

"What about you, Neji?" Tenten asked as she did her best to ignore the emotionally distraught scene going on behind her.

"I have already been evaluated." Neji replied evasively as he gave her a look that told her he knew something that she didn't. He was finding Hinata's marriage to the Uchiha was proving to be beneficial to him.

With expectant eyes, Tenten watched him for a few moments, waiting for him to share his results with her before her lips quirked, "And…?"

"I am not permitted to share the results of my evaluation." He replied with a small knowing smile as he turned away from her.

Tenten raised her eyes skyward and wondered what she had ever done to deserve such difficult team-mates.

"Whatever." She sighed as began gathering her gear.

"Tenten, it won't do me any good to tell you about the evaluation, you will just have see for yourself." Neji told her knowing that the evaluations were being done on an individual bases and that they were all different. He really had no idea how they were going to be tested.

"It's alright, Neji," She told him, her good-humor restored, as she shoved a few kunai in the pack around her waist. "We will just have to do our best."

"That's right, let's go show them what the power of youth is capable of!" Lee shouted as he began dragging her away towards the training area.

"Lee, let go of me." She yelled before turning back with an exasperated grin directed at Neji. "Wish me luck."

Neji watched as Lee suddenly released her hand with a yelp, "I don't think luck will be necessary with you, just be prepared for anything." He told her with a serious look on his face.

"Thanks Neji, I will see you later."

A thoughtful look slid over his face as he watched them disappear, he decided he was going to ask her out soon.

**OOO**

Their senses were tingling as they reached the training ground and found that no one was there. They turned towards each other with wary eyes as they both knew not to let their guard down.

Suddenly a flock of black crows came out of nowhere and flew over head. Their eyes opened wide in horror as they watched the crows turn into shuriken and begin raining down on them.

Tenten felt paralyzed as she felt herself get stabbed repeatedly and watched as Lee's eyes opened in wide in pain and shock as the weapons began to slice into his body.

Lifting her arm she saw it was covered in blood, she watched as it flowed from her hand down her arm and it began to dawn on her what was happening to them.

_Genjutsu._

Fighting through the paralysis and pain she formed the hand-sign and yelled, "Release!"

"Well done," A disembodied voice said behind her as she felt a kick to her backside, slamming her hard across the training area.

"Tenten!" Lee yelled and immediately and began fighting their assailant.

After wiping the blood off of her mouth with the back of her hand, Tenten immediately summoned weapons and was shocked when a clone of Uchiha Itachi appeared behind Lee and was about to stab him.

"Lee, watch out!" She warned.

Relief flowed through her when she saw Lee kick out behind him and twist away from it. Jumping through the air he flipped out of the way.

Seeing her opening, Tenten immediately threw a couple of kunai at the clone and a smirk of satisfaction formed on her face as she watched it dissipate.

Swiveling her head from side to side, alarm began to grip her when she could not find the real Uchiha.

"You left yourself open, Tenten-san," Itachi stated impassively as he held a kunai to her throat.

_Oh crap_. She was so used to Neji covering her while she attacked that she completely forgot to keep watch behind her.

Itachi released Tenten and stared at both of them in an assessing manner as Lee came over and stood next to Tenten.

"You did well to spot the genjutsu," He told Tenten, giving her a small amount of credit. "However, I have observed both of you showed a tendency to rely upon the support you would normally receive from Hyuuga Neji's Byakugan. In doing so, you left yourself vulnerable to my attacks."

Lee and Tenten looked at each other with dismayed glances, as they both knew he was right.

Tenten's eyes darkened as she thought of how she had stopped developing over the past few years and now she understood why.

She had been unknowingly relying on her team-mates, instead of continually adapting and honing her own skills.

"Uchiha-san, you are right, I have been struggling for some time regarding training. I feel like I have hit a plateau in my growth. It's just… our team has been together so long…I automatically know they will cover me when I attack." Tenten admitted to him with a frustrated sigh.

"Me too," Lee confessed. "Sorry, Guy-sensei—I let you down!" He said tearfully to his absent teacher with upraised eyes.

Not comfortable at dealing with other people's emotional meltdowns, Itachi stared at Lee with hard eyes.

Tenten, noting the look on his face nudged her team-mate hard with her elbow, "Lee, knock it off."

As she took in the Uchiha's stoic demeanor, she couldn't help wonder how her shy friend dealt with living with someone who was so…intimidating and serious all the time.

She risked a glance at him and saw he was looking at both of them with a slight frown as if he was considering what to do with them. A few moments later a stern look came over his face that almost made her want to stand at attention in front of him.

"Both of you have very exceptional skills in some areas, however, I would like for each of you to receive additional training in the areas I consider to be your weaknesses. One of my assistants will be contacting you with the details." He told them as he activated his Sharingan and looked them over. Itachi blinked when he examined Lee's chakra levels and saw he barely had any at all.

_Hmm, interesting_, he thought surprised that he was even a ninja at all. He looked in the younger ninja's eyes and liked the hungry look in them; Itachi had been around long enough to know when someone was a fighter and a hard worker.

This was exactly the type of ninja he was looking for.

"Lee-san, I would like for you to assist me in teaching taijutsu to some of the other ninjas in need of training." Itachi asked.

Beginning to feel emotional again, Lee looked over at Tenten as tears began to form in his eyes. After all of his hard work and struggles—someone besides his sensei was actually acknowledging him and asking him to train others.

"It would be an honor, Uchiha-san," Lee responded formally as an excited light began to glow behind his eyes as he could not wait to tell Guy-sensei his good news.

Itachi nodded with approval, "Your sensei has also agreed to help, I will need both of you to report to training area number 14 tomorrow at 2 p.m."

"Yes!" Lee exploded as he punched the air and took off to find Guy-sensei.

Tenten rolled her eyes and turned toward Itachi to see his response to Lee's exuberant behavior and was surprised to see him staring at her with a speculative look on his face.

Feeling uncomfortable, she shifted under his gaze, "Uchiha-san…"

"You may call me Itachi," he interrupted firmly. He figured since his wife considered her to be one of her best friends he should at least dispense with the formalities with her. Not to mention, she was a witness at his wedding.

Surprised, Tenten smiled weakly. "Thank you, er…Itachi…you can call me Tenten."

Not one to waste time on small-talk, Itachi immediately got down to business.

"Watch me carefully." He directed her as he walked over to the middle of several targets in a circle.

Tenten turned her eyes on him just as he jumped very high up in the air and looking closely she saw he had six kunai knives laced through his fingers. She watched as he rotated his body in the air and turning upside down he began to throw the kunai almost randomly. Impressed at how flawless his technique was, she watched as he threw a few more kunai knives and saw they struck the first set of kunai knives he threw and changed the trajectory of their direction. As she had expected from someone with his exceptional abilities, she saw all six of them landed in the middle of the target's bulls-eyes.

Rotating again through the air in one precise movement, Itachi landed in a crouching position in the direct center of the target area. He stood up tall and his eyes were firm as they honed in on her.

"Now, it is your turn."

Refusing to be intimidated by his stunning display of excellence, Tenten's eyes glowed with a competitive light when she saw the challenge lurking within those dark eyes of his.

Brimming with confidence, she walked over and replaced him in the center of the targets and pulled out several kunai out of her pouch. Closing her eyes in concentration, she jumped as high as she could straight up in the air.

Itachi watched with satisfaction as all of her kunai clanged off of all of his directly in the center of each bulls-eye. From what he had heard of her, he thought she might be able to pass the test.

The drill required incredible precision and dexterity that usually was only found in Uchihas'. All of the regular ninjas he had asked to try it had failed.

In fact, the only other person he knew would be able to do it outside of his clan was Hatake Kakashi.

He looked at her and was impressed; he could tell she did not possess large quantities of either chakra or talent. He concluded she had most likely learned her skills through endless training, hard work and dedication.

She would be perfect for the job.

"I would like your assistance with teaching the fundamentals of shuriken and kunai skills. From my assessments, I have found this is the area of training the majority of young ninjas are lacking basic skills."

Tenten's eyes opened wide in surprise as she was shocked to hear him say that, for in her mind those skills were ridiculously easy.

"I would be happy to assist you, Itachi." She responded with an easy smile.

Itachi nodded politely and began pulling his kunai out of the bull-eyes around them. "We will begin tomorrow at training area number one at 9 a.m." He told her dismissing her.

A satisfied smile formed on Tenten's face as she gathered her kunai from around her and left the area. She was looking forward to the challenge of passing on what she has learned to others. Not to mention, she was going to get additional training in areas where she has struggled in for years…

She had a feeling life was going to get pretty interesting over the next few months…

After he watched the brown-haired kunoichi leave the training grounds, Itachi called out over his shoulder, "You can come out now."

Sasuke stepped out of the shadows.

"Taking up stalking?" Itachi asked his brother with raised eyebrows.

"Tch…no, I was just waiting for you." Sasuke responded his voice was even more disinterested than usual.

"With your chakra hidden?" Itachi prodded with a knowing look in on his face.

Sasuke sighed and looked down the road where Tenten had just left, "I didn't want to see her."

Curious, Itachi carefully hid a smirk before asking his brother, "Why not?"

An uncomfortably look crossed over Sasuke's face as he thought about his uncharacteristic "experiment" he had conducted on her a few months ago. He hadn't seen her since that night, and it seemed as though either by his intent or hers they had both been avoiding one another.

When he had come out here to see his brother and saw she was with him, he just knew he didn't want the first time he talked to her to be done with his annoyingly perceptive brother watching them.

"Hn, I don't want to talk about it."

Itachi smirked a little as he walked over and picked up one of her kunai knives and handed it to Sasuke.

"Her knives are very sharp; the two of you have something in common." Itachi said coolly, referring to how Sasuke also kept his kunai knives razor sharp. Ever since Sasuke was little and something was bothering him, he would sharpen them endlessly.

Sasuke gave him a hard glare, "I don't want to go out with her…she reminds me too much of mother."

Itachi stared at him for a moment before asking, "Does mother know about her?"

Sasuke heaved a disgusted sigh, "Yes."

Itachi bit back a smile as he began walking down the road.

**OOO**

"Where's Hinata, I thought she was supposed to be home today?" Mikoto asked when she saw him come in with only Sasuke.

"I am not sure," Itachi answered quietly and glanced over at his house. "I thought she would be home by now."

Mikoto frowned, "She has been going on a lot of missions lately."

Itachi sighed and knew he was partially responsible. "Hai, since she has passed her medic course, she is now being used for more missions."

Mikoto scowled not liking this one bit, "When do you guys even see each other, if she is not around, then you are usually gone somewhere."

All too aware of the situation, Itachi rolled his eyes impatiently as he could tell she was about to meddle. He also knew that things may get worse because of all of the ninjas he has had to take off the active roster to get remedial training. Skilled and trained ninjas like Hinata and himself have had to pick up the slack.

He looked at her and clearly told her to back off; his relationship with his wife or lack thereof was none of her business.

Mikoto turned around and began stirring the contents in the pot vigorously. "Just how am I to become a grandmother, if you guys never see each other?" She muttered to herself loudly enough so he could hear her.

Itachi shared a look with his brother as they both knew she was going to keep harping on this until she got her way.

"Mother, we have decided to hold off on having children for a while." He informed her with an implacable look on his face.

_Damn it._

Mikoto turned around and looked at his face and her shoulders drooped when she saw how firm his eyes were.

"Besides Mother, Itachi has a cat now." Sasuke added with a smirk directed at his brother.

Seeing the look of annoyance pass over her oldest son's face, Mikoto decided to drop the other discussion for another time. A teasing light entered her eyes as she looked at him and asked lightly.

"How is that working out?"

Deliberately ignoring them, Itachi stood up and began to dish up his plate.

Mikoto and Sasuke shared a glance as they followed his example and began to dish up. Both of them knew they would be able to tease him for months, knowing how much he disliked cats.

**OOO**

Coming through his front door of his house Itachi felt his stomach clench when he could tell she still wasn't home yet. Stepping aside at the last moment, he watched as the gray blur flew past him with claws extended and slammed into the wall instead.

A faint smile touched his lips as he watched the young cat slide down the wall and land on his feet. The cat shook himself and stared at him with a dazed look his gray eyes.

"You'll have to do better than that to land an attack on me," Itachi told young feline dispassionately as he headed over toward the fridge to get a drink.

As he watched the cat stare back at him he began to wonder if the cat was part ninja cat. He wasn't sure. The only thing he knew for certain was that the cat was evil and did not like him.

Almost from the very beginning the kitten took an instant dislike to him and either avoided him or would at times try to attack him. Itachi eyed the cat shrewdly and recognized the uneasy truce that only existed between them when Hinata was away from home on missions.

He also knew as soon as she returned home, the hostilities between them would resume…for now, they both missed her together in uneasy sort of bond of shared misery.

Walking over to the cupboard, Itachi scooped out some cat food and put it in the cat's bowl.

"Jax, come get your dinner." He called out tonelessly.

Swishing his long tail a few times, Jax walked over to his dish and began eating. For once, he didn't mind when Itachi reached over and idly stroked his fur.

**OOO**

Wearily, Itachi leaned back and laid his head on his pillow and closed his eyes, but he wouldn't sleep and he knew it, even though he had a long and grueling work day. He glanced at the clock and saw it was one o'clock in the morning.

_Where is she? _His mind turned over for perhaps the hundredth time in the last few hours. The Hokage had received word this morning that her team was heading back today; he knew she should have been back hours ago.

His jaw clenched as feelings of dread began to overtake him.

_What if something had happened to her? _

He looked over at Jax sleeping on her pillow and decided he was tired of sleeping with her cat and needed her home now.

_That's it, I have waited long enough_, he told himself as he sprung into action and began to get dressed. He had to do something…

**OOO**

"Uchiha-san!" The half-asleep guard at the main gate said as he snapped to attention when Itachi walked past him and almost in a distracted motion leaned up against the gate.

"Has Team Eight returned from their mission?" Itachi asked calmly, keeping his fears for her safety tightly under control.

"No, Uchiha-san, I have been on duty for the last few hours and I haven't seen them yet." The guard responded cautiously.

Releasing a taut sigh, Itachi stared down the road and debated with himself whether he should go look for her. He waited another ten minutes and had finally decided to go look for her when he began to sense her presence.

Without hesitating he took off down the road and within a few minutes he spotted three weary figures pulling a makeshift stretcher behind them with a large white shadowy blob on it. Looking at it more closely, he determined it was the Inuzuka's dog.

Sensing someone was heading in their direction, Hinata activated her Byakugan and nearly sagged in relief when she recognized his chakra.

"Itachi." She called out tiredly and her team-mates immediately stopped and set the stretcher down. Within a few short moments, Hinata felt his arms go around her.

"What happened?" He asked her as he could tell they were all exhausted even in the dark.

"Well, we left early in the morning…" Hinata began, trying to keep her voice calm. "And around noon Akamaru collapsed and I have been trying to heal him and keep him stable ever since."

"You did great, Hinata." Kiba told her as he looked down at his partner and best friend lying on the stretcher. "Without your help, I don't think he would have made it home."

"I concur," Shino added as he looked calmly at her. "You saved Akamaru's life."

Blushing at their praise, Hinata was too tired to argue with them. She lifted her eyes toward Itachi and drank in the sight of him. Just seeing and touching him made her feel so much better, she had missed him desperately almost from the time she left the village.

With a frown, Itachi released Hinata and began assessing the dog with his diagnostic chakra.

"I don't see any sign of poison." He told his wife as she stood beside him.

"No, I think he has contracted some sort of virus. At first I thought it was the same illness that inflicted the people in the village we left yesterday but, this seems to be different." Hinata told him as she looked at the dog with worried and troubled eyes. "For some reason, he just collapsed…"

Itachi nodded and after a few short moments determined that the dog was beyond their skills to help him, they could only try to keep him stable until they got him to Tsunade or one of the veterinarians. As he applied healing chakra to the dog, he turned to Kiba with a grave look on his face.

"Where do you want us to take him?"

Fear gripped Kiba's heart as he read something in the Uchiha's eyes that told him the situation was rapidly becoming dire for his dog.

"Let's take him to the hospital and I will have someone locate my sister, Hana, to meet us there." Kiba told him with worried eyes as he put his hand back under the stretcher.

Seeing that Hinata and her team-mates were all close to exhaustion after carrying the enormous dog on the stretcher for most of the day, Itachi created two shadow clones and immediately sent one of them to locate Kiba's sister.

He took Hinata's place by the stretcher and they picked it up and began pulling it is fast as they could toward the gate while Hinata ran alongside them and applied chakra to Akamaru.

"Hang on, boy." She said as she caressed the huge animal's face…She shared an alarmed glance with her husband when she saw Akamaru didn't respond, he was unconscious.

**OOO**

Outside the operating room at the hospital, Hinata slid down wearily in a state of complete exhaustion but perked up when she saw Tsunade and Shizune fly by her past the double doors. Several moments later, Itachi came out of the room.

"They have revived him; the Hokage thinks he is going to be okay." Itachi told her as he folded his arms around her. Grateful tears slid down her face as she pressed it against his chest. "I was so worried, I knew he was sick but I…just didn't want to scare Kiba." She confessed tiredly.

"You did well," Itachi told her as he picked up her heavy back pack and took her hand. "I have no doubt, without your help, the dog would have died."

Relief flooded over her at his words as she knew he was right, it made all of the hard work she had put in studying all worth it.

Itachi's eyes softened as they took in how exhausted she was. "Come on, let's go home." Hinata looked at him with a weary smile, as the sound of home sounded lovely.

**OOO**

When they walked through the door, Hinata caught the gray blur as it launched itself into her arms.

"Oh Jax." She cried out happily as she snuggled the purring cat to her chest. "I missed you so much." Her eyes immediately flew towards Itachi with a worried light in them.

"Did you guys um, get along while I was gone?" She asked her husband a little tentatively.

"Yes." Itachi responded flatly as he opened the fridge and took out a pitcher of tea and began pouring some into a glass.

Hinata breathed out a small sigh of relief, she had been nervous about leaving the two of them alone. Smiling softly to herself she carried Jax back with her to get ready for bed.

Coming out of the bathroom after getting ready for the second time tonight, Itachi looked down at the sunken bed and saw his wife was already fast asleep. Lying next to her was Jax.

Itachi rolled his eyes when he saw the cat had positioned himself so that he would be directly between them like he always tried to do when Hinata was home.

_Not tonight you don't_, Itachi thought irritably as he reached down to grab the cat and move him. Jax immediately bristled and hissed with his claws extended.

The cat didn't know what happened next as he felt himself being roughly hauled out of the room by someone who looked like his enemy and the bedroom door was slammed in his face. With his dark eyes flashing and tail swishing he took himself off to his bed in the living room.

Crawling under the covers with a relieved sigh that she was safe and back where she belonged, Itachi spooned himself against her back and pulled her closer to him. Now that she was next to him, he could finally sleep.

**Author's Note**: I finally finished a chapter for this one. As you have probably already noticed, this one will be a little bit different than the first one. It took me a while to figure out the major plot/theme of this story but I think I have it all worked out. I appreciate all of the feedback and comments all of you left me and I hope you are patient with me as I try to muddle through Sasu/Ten/Neji.

Regarding the training scenario in the story: Over the past few years as I had read the manga and watched the anime, I had always wondered about the overall consistency of their training after a young ninja leaves the academy. It seems to me all of the jonin instructors have their own training methods and seem to focus on only a few things. So, I always wondered what would happen if someone brilliant and incredibly organized like Itachi or even Shikamaru (except he is too lazy to do something like that lol) took over and completely revised the way people were trained. Well, I am going attempt to show you what I think can happen…

**The Way of Tea**: I should be posting tonight or tomorrow if I get time to finish the chapter I am working on. (Yay—this story is almost close to being done!)

Please leave me some feedback; it really does help motivate me to finish chapters. I love hearing from you guys (sigh) Itahina fans are just so awesome…


	3. Chapter 3

**Not So Blunt Differences**

****Chapter 2****

* * *

****Lesson two: **Uchiha training methods may be hazardous to your health.

* * *

**[Next morning training area number one, 0900 hours]**

As he surveyed the large group of ninjas standing in front of him a look of inexpressible distaste crossed his face.

The ninjas in the crowd, depending on whether they were male or female stared back at him with a whole gamut of expressions ranging from jealousy and dislike all the way up to almost godlike worship. For not only was he from the legendary Uchiha clan and incredibly hot, he was also an amazingly powerful ninja. So instead of being offended by his contempt for them, they just accepted it.

In their minds, he was Uchiha Sasuke, and he could do no wrong.

A couple of the kunoichis sighed loudly as they stared at him with hearts in their eyes, causing Tenten who was standing next to him to shake her head in disgust. She couldn't believe her bad luck, out of all of the people she could have gotten teamed up with she had ended up with _him_.

"Listen up losers," Sasuke began loudly with blunt proficiency. "You are all pathetic, or you wouldn't be in remedial kunai training."

Glancing over at him, Tenten rolled her eyes at how typically insulting he was being.

_You are such a jerk, Uchiha_.

"This—is a kunai," he continued with eyes full of mock contempt as he held one up in front of them. "You aim it and throw it…it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out…"

He looked at Tenten when he felt her tugging on his shirt, "What?" He snapped as he turned away from the group of ninjas and his eyes made eye contact with hers.

For just a second Tenten felt herself become speechless as his hard black eyes bored into hers and she felt herself becoming a little intimidated.

Her hand gripped tighter around her kunai and she stood up taller as she refused to allow a jerk like him to get the best of her.

"Don't you think you are being a little mean, calling them pathetic losers? Not everyone has the Sharingan like you do and can learn things super fast, so lighten up on them, okay?" She asked him in a low voice tinged with scorn.

Sasuke looked back at her and it annoyed the hell out of him how everyone in Konoha just assumed he was automatically born with the Sharingan and learned everything instantaneously. He had to learn how to throw a kunai the hard way, just like everyone else did…

****Flashback Sasuke age 5, Itachi age 10****

Holding the kunai in front of him, "Now Sasuke, this is a kunai…" Itachi told him patiently as he aimed it and threw it at the target, "…and you throw it like this."

Sasuke watched with big eyes as it moved through the air in a perfectly straight line and it hit dead center in the middle of the bulls-eye.

_Wow, nii-san is so awesome!_

"Uh okay,… I will try my best, big brother," he said hesitantly while trying to contain his excitement at hanging out with his idol at the same time. Looking down he began to frown a little as Itachi tied a rope around one of his ankles.

"Um Tachi,… what's the rope for?" Sasuke asked him in a small-sounding voice as a bad feeling began to materialize in the pit of his stomach.

Sitting down calmly under a tree in the shade, Itachi threw a kunai down on the ground at just the perfect angle to create a sundial.

"You have one hour to hit the bulls-eye ten times or I am going to hang you under this tree and make a kunai piñata out of you…understand," he stated firmly with a face that told him he had better not argue with him.

Sasuke's eyes were terrified as he stared back at his brother and then at the kunai sundial…

"But, brother…I don't know how…"

"You are wasting time, Sasuke," Itachi cut him off unemotionally as he glanced purposely over at the makeshift sundial. "You now have fifty nine minutes and thirty seconds…"

Sasuke looked at the rope tied around his ankle and swallowed a huge lump of fear before aiming the kunai at the target and throwing it as hard as he could…and watched with increasing dread as the kunai missed the target completely...

"Fifty eight minutes, 15 seconds…" Itachi counted down as he glanced over at the doomsday sundial.

_Ahhh_, young Sasuke's mind screamed in panic and he closed his eyes and threw it at the target and missed by only a half an inch…

"Better, Sasuke…fifty eight minutes to go…"

****End Flashback****

Sasuke stared at her for a few moments with a look that told her absolutely nothing about what was going on inside his head. He didn't want to be here anyway, his brother had asked him to fill in for him at the last minute.

"They are ninjas, Tenten, not babies," Sasuke reminded her bluntly with a hard mocking light in his eyes.

Tenten's lips tightened and her fingers gripped the kunai in her hand tighter as she got into his face and stared back at him. "They are also your fellow Leaf comrades and deserving of your respect."

Sasuke stared back at her and began to admire her guts and how she stood up to him. No other girl that he had met before had ever done that. A reluctant smile began to form on his lips.

A small unwilling gasp escaped her as she stared back at him in surprise. He looked so different when he smiled…

_Oh Kami_.

"Hey, we don't have all day," a slightly bald chunin near the back of the crowd complained out loud to them. "Teach us how to throw the stupid kunai already, so we can get out of here."

ZIINNG.

The chunin's eyes opened wide with fear as a very sharp kunai just razed his shoulder and wedged itself perfectly between the girls behind him and stuck itself in a tree.

A collective gasp went through the crowd as a highly offended Tenten was immediately in his face brandishing a deadly looking kunai against his chest. "What did you just call this?" She said in a menacing voice as a she punctuated each of her words with a poke from her kunai knife against his flak jacket.

The chunin stepped back from her and began to sweat a little and stared back at her mutely.

Tenten took a step away from him and mentally counted to three as she tried to calm herself down.

_Uhg, what an idiot, s_he thought as she remembered something her father always told her, that she could learn a lot about a person by the way they took care of their ninja tools.

Her eyes were hard as she glared at the chunin in front of her.

How dare he treat with contempt the very tools that can save his life? She had been taught from a very early age that all ninja weapons were to be revered and treated with the greatest of respect.

"Let me see one of your kunais?" She asked him with an irritated sigh as she held out her hand in front of him.

The ninja relaxed slightly seeing that she had calmed down somewhat and handed her one of his kunai.

Tenten's eyes were appalled as she took in the condition of his knife, but she was not surprised as she noted its dirty and completely dull blade. Lifting her eyes to its owner she saw he was out of shape and his clothes were dirty. He was obviously lazy about a lot of things.

A moue of distaste formed on her mouth as she held up the kunai and showed it to the whole group. "This kunai knife is a disgrace, the blade is dirty and I doubt it has ever been sharpened," she said with a disgusted glance at the chunin as she handed it back to him.

Then a little dramatically Tenten allowed her eyes to drift over the crowd as she held up one of her own perfectly maintained and razor sharp kunai knives and ran her finger over the back of it with a loving caress as it gleamed in the sunlight.

"Kunai are like _people_ and they need to be treated with respect," Tenten explained to them as her eyes glanced over in Sasuke's direction to see his reaction to her indirect mocking of him. "…They also need to be guided and handled with care, not treated with contempt."

He raised one of his eyebrows slightly before responding as he pulled out one of his own razor sharp kunai knives and showed it to the group. "Hn, _ninjas_ are like kunai knives and they need to be sharpened and honed until they become weapons."

Tenten's eyes opened wide as she stared at his weapon and almost forgot his words. She had never seen anyone with kunai knives as sharp as his; it looked …like one of hers.

In mute fascination, she walked over to him and examined his kunai before looking up at him with a puzzled and slightly weighing look on her face.

_How could a jerk like him treat his weapons with so much respect?_

A frustrated sigh escaped Sasuke as he turned toward the group of ninjas reminding her they were not alone. Putting her hand over her warm face, Tenten held back an annoyed grimace when she saw they had been staring at the two of them in stunned silence. Breathing out a somewhat shaky breath, she straightened her shoulders and looked back up at him with a small challenge lurking in her brown eyes.

"Fine, Uchiha, you take half the class and train them and I will take the other and we will see whose training methods work best."

Smug black eyes looked back at her as he shrugged his shoulders. "Fine," he said as he raised his arm in a chopping motion and a long blade of lightning extended from his hand splitting the group in half.

Pointing to the group of about fifteen ninjas closest to him he looked them over and his eyes grew heavy with disgust as he noted most of them were weak and pathetic looking. He shook his head a little as he knew he was going to have his work cut out for him.

"Follow me," he ordered them as he began walking towards some targets. As he lined them up and watched them take turns and saw how bad they all were, he smiled a dark smile in his mind as he knew within one hour he could fix all of them.

After all, Uchiha training methods were flawless, they never fail.

He decided these ninjas were particularly weak so he was going to have to ratchet the level of intimidation up on them a bit, besides he didn't have enough ropes with him for all of them.

As he created several ropes of lightning and snaked them around the ankles of the shocked ninjas, he wondered if his brother would have been impressed by his slight modification to a revered family training procedure.

Knowing Itachi, he had a feeling he would have approved of the way he was handling his role as an instructor today. Well, only as long as he produced results. With Itachi, that was always what it came down to in the end.

Sitting down under a tree, he threw one of his deathly sharp kunais' in front of the group and created a makeshift sundial.

"Listen up losers, you have exactly one hour to hit the bulls-eye ten times or the lightning around your ankles will light all of you up like a Konoha Festival light show…understood."

Utterly impervious to their cries and outbursts, Sasuke sent a small bolt of lightning through all of them and they all stared back at him with shocked and frightened eyes (literally).

"You are wasting time," he pronounced unemotionally with a cool glance toward the sundial. "You now have fifty eight minutes and thirty seconds to go…"

* * *

"There you go, now just release it like this…" Tenten said in an encouraging tone as she helped guide the young ninja's arm forward. The kunai was thrown a little weakly but the young kunoichi's face lit up as she was beginning to notice she was improving. "Thank you Tenten-sensei…I think I am getting the hang of it," she told her with a shy smile.

_Sensei…me_, Tenten blushed a little as she felt a tremendous sense of satisfaction as she watched the ninjas begin to improve around her. Some of them had just learned bad techniques over the years and only needed a few pointers to straighten them out. Others had developed lazy training habits and did not keep themselves practiced up and it showed in their overall precision.

Her eyes roamed over her group and a deep sense of pride came over her as she felt she was making a difference.

"Five minutes," she heard the Uchiha tell his group and watched as they collectively as a group began to panic and throw kunais at their targets at an alarming rate.

Curious as to what type of training technique he was using, her eyes opened in stunned disbelief when she saw the lightning ropes around the trainees ankles.

"You bastard," Tenten muttered under her breath as she walked over to him.

"That's not training, that's just plain old fear and intimidation techniques," she stated in angry undertones as she confronted him under the tree where he was sitting.

Sasuke blithely ignored her and glanced over at the sundial, "Time is up, all of you pass," he told them before directing a smug look over at Tenten who was struggling to keep herself from exploding in outrage.

Behind him his team began to high five each other in relief and look at their teacher with almost slavish admiration.

Tenten watched them dumbfounded and was a becoming more than a little nauseated.

"Wait a freakin minute, you can't pass all of them yet, they have only had one training session. What kind of trainer are you?" She asked him in a voice heavily laden with shock and derision.

With deliberately slow movements, Sasuke released his trainees from the lightning ropes that he had entangled them with. "All of my losers, hit at least ten bulls-eyes in one hour, proving their proficiency with a kunai."

"Ten times," she responded weakly as she glanced over at her trainees and knew only a few of them had accomplished that feat.

Tenten snorted inelegantly, refusing to believe they were all proficient.

"I have a hard time believing that," she said as she directed a challenging look back at him.

Sasuke stared at her for a moment before a slow knowing grin came over his face.

Tenten almost forgot to breath and had to pinch herself to remind herself to stop acting like an idiot fan-girl. Glancing over toward the corner, she sneered a little when she saw he already had several of them staring at him with (vomit-inducing) adoring looks.

"Fine, my losers will compete against yours tomorrow," Sasuke told her with a cool look of superiority on his face that made her want to gut him with one of her sharpest knives.

Tenten's eyes narrowed as she stared him down for a few moments before a knowing grin tugged at the corner of her mouth as she knew her training methods were far superior to his. "Fine, we will meet you here tomorrow and the winner gets to decide what training methods will be used from now on."

"Whatever," Sasuke replied in a bored sounding voice as he turned away from her and went to go talk to his losers (I mean, his trainees).

As she watched him and his trainees leave the training area, her eyes began to narrow as they pinned down on her students. None of them were leaving until they hit that stupid bulls-eye at least ten times.

There was no way in hell she was going to lose to a sadistic jerk like him…

**Author's Note: **I have most of the next chapter already written but I wanted to see if any of you minded if I bumped the rating up to M before I post it. It isn't too bad in terms of sexual content but I am finding it difficult to keep it within the pure boundaries of a T rating. Itahina are newlyweds after all…and ah, well you get the point I am trying to make. (I promise not to be too graphic or make it too newlywedish) Anyway, this story is already formulating to be a lot darker and confrontational than NSSD, so I feel an M rating will be more appropriate for it. Please let me know, (you can even IM me) and I will follow the consensus of the majority of people who respond. The next chapter is all Itahina and Uchiha family time. Sasuten's contest will be in the chapter after that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Not So Blunt Differences**

****Chapter 3****

* * *

**Lesson 3: **Uchiha training methods are flawless…aren't they?

* * *

With a yellow feather duster in her hand, Hinata climbed up the step-ladder and began dusting all of the stuffed kitty cats in her collection. Looking around her a soft smile touched her face as she took in how Itachi had set the room up for her while she was gone and noticed it looked almost exactly like she had it at her old house.

When she had left to go on her mission a few weeks ago, it had all still been in boxes because she didn't have time to put any of it away.

A wistful laugh escaped her, knowing that he must have missed her a great deal if he could tolerate being around so much clutter.

As she reached toward the back of the shelf to dust the stuffed kitty cats back there, a small shadow crossed her features when she thought of how much they have been separated since they came back from their honeymoon. Both of their schedules have been miserable.

Either he was on missions or at meetings and if it wasn't his schedule keeping them apart then it was hers. It seemed to her they were away from each other more than they were together. The only thing that was constant between them was they were always missing each other.

Hinata felt the softest caress on the skin just below her shorts and her face began to glow with happiness as she knew for the moment, all in her life and his was well again.

"Where did you go this morning?" She asked her husband a little breathlessly as she allowed herself to fall back against him, knowing automatically that he would catch her.

As he caught her a smile tugged his lips as he looked into her eyes and saw the desperate welcome contained within them. He could see the last few weeks had also been as difficult on her as they were for him.

"I had a meeting with the Hokage," he told her with a weary edge to his smile as he placed his hands around her lower back and pulled her closer to him.

Hinata snuggled her face into his chest and thought of how disappointed she had been when she woke up this morning and found that he had left for the day. She breathed out a long contented sigh at having him home with her again.

"Thank you for setting up my room, it is just like I had it back home," she told him softly as she grinned up at him with a grateful look in her eyes.

Itachi's eyes were a little self mocking as he looked down at her and didn't tell her he put her room together because he couldn't sleep a few of the nights while she was gone. Working on putting the room together and being around her things had made her seem not so far away from him.

_I am so pathetic._

"You're welcome," he told her as he felt her eager hands slide underneath his shirt and begin massage his back. A warm light began to glow within his eyes as he looked down at his wife, "I thought your sister could stay in here when she wants to spend the night with you, when I am away on missions."

"That's a great idea…" she started to say before her husband's mouth cut her off as he began to show her just how much he had missed her while she was gone.

Closing his arms around her, his mouth covered hers with a kiss that was both intensely tender and full of passion as he crushed her even tighter against him.

While kissing him back, she felt every nerve in her body begin to hum wildly with anticipation. A moan escaped her as she felt like it had been an eternity to her since she had been with him like this.

"Mmm… Itachi, I missed you..." she murmured achingly after he tore his mouth from hers and began trailing scorching kisses all over her face, down across her neck, "…so much."

At her words, his lips reclaimed hers in a hard devouring kiss and his arms closed around her, holding her against him as if she was going to disappear on him any moment. Losing herself in the feel of him against her, she felt she was drowning in an ocean of pleasure as his hungry mouth and hands began to lavish her with attention, pulling her down, lower and lower beneath the sensual waves.

Suddenly, with a groan and eyes flashing with irritation, Itachi pulled away from her and began rapidly making hand signs. With her skin flushed with heat and her breath coming out in shallow gasps, Hinata activated her Byakugan and could see Mikoto was at the back door waiting for one of them to answer it.

"Um… I don't think we are dressed appropriately for company right now." She said anxiously stating the obvious with a blush as she just noticed they were both almost completely naked in the middle of the afternoon.

"I sent a clone out to see her to find out what she wants." Itachi informed her as he began pulling Hinata out into the hallway toward their bedroom. It was darker in there and being in that room with all of those stuffed toy cats was beginning to disturb him. He had felt like they were being watched…by hundreds of cats, just like Jax.

After dragging her in the room with him, he slammed the door closed with his foot to keep her evil cat from coming in and bothering them. He also decided the next person who bothered them was going to be in for the genjutsu hell of his/her life…

"Now, where were we…?" Itachi asked her in a low voice as they shared an amused and exasperated glance at being interrupted earlier.

Hinata laughed softly feeling a little decadent as she settled herself on the bed next to him, "I think I was in the middle of telling you how much I missed you."

"That sounds about right…" Itachi agreed with a warm light in his eyes while his arms clamped around his wife pulling her tightly up against him. His hard body moving against hers was eloquently showing her just how much he missed her.

Just before his mouth could claim hers a message filtered into his brain as his mother dispelled the clone.

He mentally groaned as he found out what she wanted from them tonight. Now that he had his wife with him, he didn't want to share her with anyone.

Feeling his body go still against hers for a moment, Hinata looked at him with worried eyes, afraid that he would have to leave her and go somewhere, "Is something wrong?"

Internally Itachi debated whether to tell her his parents wanted them to meet them for dinner tonight at Denali's with the family to celebrate their twenty sixth wedding anniversary. After weighing all of the pros and cons in rapid succession he decided it would be better to tell her later because knowing her, she would probably feel obligated to go shopping right now to go find a gift for them…and shopping was about the last thing he wanted to do with her right now.

"I will tell you later," he reassured her before rolling her under him and began nuzzling the delicate hollows of her neck with his mouth. Closing his eyes he breathed in the familiar scent of her of her skin and savored the serenity he always felt when she was with him.

Moving his mouth back to hers, his kiss was slow and languorous as if he had all the time in the world. It had been a while since he had her; he meant to enjoy his reunion with his wife.

Curving her hands around the back of his head to bring his mouth even closer to hers, Hinata was elated and relieved he didn't have to leave her and she had him all to herself…at least for a little while.

* * *

Sasuke was sure he was going to be ill. He was surrounded by couples, Shisui and Ami on one side, Itachi and Hinata on the other. And in front of him were his parents and they were acting the worst out of all of them. His mother was just inches away from sitting on his father's lap and they were practically making out in front of everybody.

A shudder passed through him as he thought how disgusting it was that old people like them did not know how to behave themselves properly in public.

His eyes darted around almost desperately as he searched for an excuse, any excuse that his mother would accept and let him leave. Glancing up at her and catching her eye, he silently pleaded with her to excuse him from this family dinner and was pissed when her eyes clearly told him to stop whining and suck it up.

Tonight just wasn't his night.

First of all, he probably should have brought a date or even Naruto. Shit, anyone would have been more tolerable than having to sit by himself surrounded by Uchiha couples in heat.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Shisui rubbing his pregnant wife's stomach and talking to the baby through it. Sasuke hoped that if he ever behaved like that someone would gut him and immediately put him out of his misery.

The second bad thing that happened to him tonight was he forgot to buy his parents a present for their anniversary, which was a colossal mistake on his part. His mother was going to make him pay… for months.

_Damn it_, he thought and wondered if he had time to run to a confectioners shop and get his mother the largest box of chocolate he could find.

Under the table he felt his brother hand him a large bag.

A small relieved smile tugged at his mouth when he saw it was a gift for his parents. Inside the gift bag was the largest, most expensive chocolates to be found in town - his mother's favorites.

"I owe you one," Sasuke said very quietly to his brother.

"Thank Hinata; she was the one who thought to get an extra present for Mother," Itachi responded coolly.

Sasuke turned to Hinata, who was absolutely glowing as she sat next to his brother and looked at her gratefully, "Thank you, Hinata."

Hinata's face turned beet red, "You're welcome, Sasuke…I just thought that since your mother likes chocolate so much… she would like these."

"Chocolate is always a good choice when it comes to my mother," Sasuke told her dryly.

"How did training go earlier today?" Itachi asked his brother after taking a drink.

Sasuke shot his brother an irritated glare for teaming him up with Tenten, "It went alright, I used a variation of the rope method and my half of the class passed the course within an hour."

Hinata frowned slightly as she wondered what the rope method was.

"As expected," Itachi told him with a note of approval in his voice. "What about the other half of the class?"

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, "I am not sure, Tenten was still working with them when I left."

Itachi gave his brother a shrewd look, "How did things work out between you?"

Sasuke picked up his chopsticks and stared at them for a long moment before he responded, "Tenten did not approve of the methods I used, she considered them to be nothing more than fear and intimidation techniques."

Beside him Shisui snorted, "The other ninjas in this village never understand our ways. Our training methods may be tough but they beat the shit out of every other training method used in the village."

"Doesn't your Sharingan give you an advantage over other ninjas when it comes to training?" Hinata asked reasonably in a hesitant voice.

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes irritably still annoyed that everyone assumed they were just born knowing how to do everything, "It does give us an advantage later on, but unlike your clan we are not born being able to activate it right away."

"He is right; our Sharingan is usually activated during an event of great duress or emotional stress. Our clan's training techniques were developed with that in mind." Fugaku explained humorlessly from across the table.

"The ninjas in our clan have to learn everything the hard way, just like everyone else does, Hinata-chan," Shisui explained patiently before sharing an amused look with his wife.

"Oh…I see," she said weakly while looking at all of the relentlessly black eyes staring at her, something in the way they all stared at her made her feel like an outsider. Unintentionally she shrank back in her seat closer to her husband.

Under the table Itachi placed his hand around hers before turning toward his brother. "You said you modified the rope method…so, what did you use?"

Sasuke smirked, "I used lightning and sent a shock through all of them as motivation. Then I gave them one hour to hit the bulls-eye ten times and told them I would light them all up like a Konoha Festival Light show if they failed."

"You said everyone passed…?" Itachi asked.

"Yes."

"Well, of course they passed - our clan's training methods _always_ work," Ami stated with absolute confidence as she patted the baby in her stomach.

Hinata looked at Ami's protruding stomach and felt hers begin to sink at the thought of her little babies in the future having to go through barbaric Uchiha training rituals like this one.

"Ami… don't you worry about putting… little Naoki and Shou through something like that when they get older?" Hinata asked her a little timidly.

Ami looked at her a little stunned as if she had asked her if her children liked to breathe air or something. "Oh Hinata, I know our ways probably seem a little rough to you considering you are a _Hyuuga_ after all, but I am not worried at all. They all have to go through it at some point and only a few people over the years have actually died in the training. So, I am sure they will be just fine."

Mikoto as always, the family peacemaker smiled soothingly over at her new daughter-in-law, "Of course they will be fine, darling…look at my boys and Shisui – they all went through it when they were younger and look how amazing they all turned out to be."

Hinata had to choke back an emotional laugh at that statement as she had been married to Itachi long enough to know that he and his brother were far from normal when it came to social interaction.

"You don't have to respond to that statement," Itachi told her quietly in her ear, making her shoulders shake as she tried not to laugh. She looked over at Mikoto and saw a twinkle in her eyes that told her she had been poking fun at her boys all along.

Hinata looked up and saw her cousin, Neji, sit down at the table across from theirs. She sucked in her breath in astonishment at the girl he had with him.

It was Tenten and she looked incredible. She was wearing her hair up in a glossy pony tail, high up on top of her head with earrings dangling from her ears. The dress she was wearing was a dark red-garnet color that brought out the subtle color of her brown eyes. The dress made her look like a goddess as it left one of her shoulders completely bare.

Hinata frowned as she knew there was no way her tomboy friend could pull off a look like that on her own, she must have had help from someone. Her eyes immediately glanced over at her mother-in-law as her friend's stunning new look had 'makeover' written all over it.

Mikoto glanced meaningfully over at Sasuke, who was staring at Tenten as if in a daze, before winking at her.

As Hinata grinned at Mikoto for her shameless matchmaking, Itachi sighed and nudged his brother with his elbow to get him to stop staring at Tenten.

As though waking up from a dream, Sasuke looked at everyone sitting around their table and scowled before throwing his napkin down and leaving the restaurant.

Mikoto's eyes floated over to where Tenten was sitting with Hinata's cousin and a frown began to materialize on her face at the way they were staring at each other and how comfortable they seemed together.

She just hoped her son, stopped denying what he felt for her soon before it was too late…

* * *

[Later that night…]

In the bathroom while brushing her teeth, Hinata couldn't stop thinking about her new clan. She had to admit some of their ways were a lot different from what she was used to. Her clan liked to mete out psychological trauma when they trained their members, but they were always very civilized. It seemed like Itachi's clan took their training to a much more extreme level where they used both psychological and physical methods on their members.

The thought of raising a family in this type of clan environment made her very nervous.

Coming up behind her so silently she didn't hear him, Hinata was startled when her husband lifted up her hair and kissed the back of her neck.

"Is everything all right, Hinata?" Itachi asked her with concern in his eyes.

Hinata's eyes made contact with his in the mirror in front of her before she looked down and rinsed out her mouth with water. Purposefully making her face neutral she was afraid of what her husband's answer would be if she asked him his views on his clan's training. By the way he talked at dinner, she had the feeling he agreed with the rest of his family.

With a sigh she turned to him and buried her face in his chest, "I'm fine," she told him evasively. "… I am just tired."

Itachi rubbed her back and shoulders gently and could tell she was keeping something from him. One thing he loved about being married to her was she was an open book with him; her emotions were always visible for him to see. But if she wasn't ready to trust him he was just going to have to be patient with her until she was.

"Are you ready to go to bed?" Itachi asked her as he eyed the cat askance over her shoulder.

"Yes." Hinata said as she turned around and picked up Jax off of the counter and carried him into the room.

Itachi was really starting to hate that cat as he watched it snuggle up to Hinata on the bed. A smile grew on his face as he watched his wife take the cat and put in on the other side of her and look up at him with expectant eyes. On the way to bed, Itachi began removing his shirt…

**Author's Note:** I wasn't planning to update this story for a while but this chapter just kept formulating in my brain. I can't wait to write the next chapter. Please leave me feedback, I have been a little burnt out lately and might get motivated to write more if I hear from some of you. I hope you are all having a great summer.


	5. Chapter 5

**Not So Blunt Differences**

****Chapter 4****

* * *

A few meters away and hiding up on a tree limb, Mikoto aimed the long range camera at the scene of ninjas in the clearing below her. The camera focused narrowly until only Sasuke and Tenten were showing in the lens. Sasuke's mom giggled as she watched Tenten glare at her youngest son and poke him in the chest with her finger.

"Atta girl, Tenten," she murmured as the camera clicked off several photos in succession.

"Um…mother," Hinata's soft voice behind her suddenly alerting Mikoto that her hiding place had been found out, startled her making her almost drop the camera to the ground.

"Oh hi, darling," Mikoto said turning towards her daughter in law with a slightly guilty smile.

Nodding politely in greeting, Hinata looked at her mother in law with worried eyes, before attempting to warn her. "I-I don't think Sasuke will like it when he learns you have been trying to set him up with Tenten."

Mikoto's eyes darted quickly over at Sasuke, "You don't think he knows I was the one who made over Tenten last night before her date with Neji…do you?"

"I don't know, but I think he knows you are plotting something…" Hinata guessed.

Mikoto's eyes darkened with concern before she added with a shrug, "Well, then I will have to be extra careful so he doesn't suspect anything..."

"He already knows you are here watching him, Mother," Itachi's stated coolly from the tree branch above them. He had appeared so suddenly and quietly that even Hinata had not known he was up there.

Mikoto's hand flew to her chest, "Don't sneak up on us like that, Itachi. You almost gave me a heart attack."

Her eldest son was not to be put off by her acting and in typical fashion got straight to the point. "Your scheming is not necessary, Mother; I have already provided the means for them to have to meet each day by assigning them together as kunai instructors."

"Oh Itachi, you are so wonderful," Mikoto laughed as she shot him a huge conspiratorial grin. "I had a feeling you were behind all of this," she stated as she pointed over at Sasuke and Tenten and the group of ninjas before them.

Her son's face was like stone as he glared back at her, "Sasuke will not like you interfering with him."

Mikoto wagged her finger at him playfully and grinned smugly at him and then at Hinata. "If it wasn't for me, you and Hinata would have never gotten together."

_Oh please_, Itachi muttered silently before dropping his eyes over towards his wife and the sight of her softly blushing face caused a slow smile to touch his lips. Hinata's answering smile and soft eyes made him remember a few hours earlier when he had woken her up this morning and suddenly wish they were alone and his mother was far, far away from them.

Mikoto cleared her throat and gave them both a knowing look before turning her eyes back towards her youngest son.

"Tenten is perfect for him, I just know it!" She uttered with conviction as she lifted the camera and took another photo of Tenten as she was patiently instructing one of the ninja's in the group.

"Perhaps," her son conceded before giving his mother a hard look. "Leave him be or you will regret it."

Mikoto sent Hinata a glance of appeal hoping she would take her side but her daughter in law's firm eyes told her she was agreeing with her husband.

"But Itachi," she tried as she pointed over at Sasuke as he stood there in mock contempt as he rudely commented on Tenten's teaching style. "Look at him! He is sooo stubborn, if I don't help him he is going to lose her to Hinata's cousin."

A small laugh escaped Hinata as she watched her friend respond to Sasuke's teasing by hurling a kunai at him and it was thrown so skillfully that it just barely grazed the top of his hair.

Mkoto's lips tightened stubbornly as she watched her idiot youngest son turn his back on Tenten. She shook her head mournfully, "What about her and Neji? I watched them last night at dinner and they seem to be very close."

Hinata placed her hand comfortingly over hers, "Don't worry mother, Tenten has always told me she only likes him as a friend."

"I hope you are right," Mikoto said before smiling fondly at Hinata. Her daughter in law's words did not reassure her much because she couldn't help but feel uneasy about what she saw last night. If only her youngest son weren't such a pain in the ass when it came to women!

"Some competition will be good for him." Itachi stated firmly effectively ending the conversation before appearing beside his wife and whispering in her ear promising to make dinner for once after they were done with work.

Mikoto couldn't help smiling at how cute the newlyweds were together as she watched them leave. They were still obviously still very much in the honeymoon stage of their marriage but her eyes turned cloudy as she looked over at her youngest son.

Unfortunately, Sasuke was not as wise as his brother and took after his hard-headed, stubborn as a mule father so she wasn't sure she could just leave it all up to him and fate. It wasn't in her nature to just let things be.

Over the next hour she stood there and watched how often her son's eyes turned toward Tenten. To everyone else who didn't know him it would seem like he was practically ignoring the dark-haired Kunoichi, but his mother had very sharp eyes and he couldn't hide his interest from her.

"I know you like her Sasuke, now don't be an idiot…" she spoke in the distance toward her son just before she left the area.

* * *

Twang!

_Damn it! _Tenten cursed under her breath as she watched another one of Sasuke's trainees hit the bullseye. It galled her that his barbaric torture method of training was producing such results, especially when her group could barely hit the target at all and only a few of her ninjas have been able to hit the bullseye in the center of the target.

Her eyes shifted over towards Sasuke and she could feel her hand clench around the razor-sharp kunai in her hand. For a moment their eyes met and Tenten felt her pulse begin to race.

She jerked her head away and stared off into the distance.

_Damn you Sasuke! Why do you have to be so… no…I am not even going to think it!_

_I refuse to be one of your pathetic fan-girls!_

Taking a deep breath, Tenten turned her eyes back toward the group and saw they were all staring at her. Fighting back the urge to blush, her eyes were sharp as she turned them on Sasuke.

"Can I speak to you for a moment, Uchiha?"

Sasuke hid his smugness behind a very bored looking shrug. "I guess."

Tenten fumed as she led him away from the group. When they were out of earshot of the group she turned and met his eyes directly.

"You like me, don't you?" Sasuke asked her bluntly before she could speak.

"What?" She asked, spluttering at the sheer arrogance of his question.

Sasuke took a step closer to her with knowing look on his face. "You can't deny there is something between us…"

"You're deluded. I don't even like you!"

"I disagree," Sasuke concluded coolly. He reached out and placed his fingers under her chin and looked into her eyes. "When I am around you I can feel your attraction to me."

Feeling herself begin to boil over with rage, Tenten took a step back and fought back the urge to gut him with her favorite and sharpest kunai. "Listen jerk, I don't like you and I only put up with you because your brother assigned this task to me."

At her words Sasuke looked momentarily perplexed before he activated his Sharingan. "Say it again."

Bristling into his red eyes, Tenten's brown eyes flashed with anger. "Say what again?"

"Tell me you don't like me."

Tenten stood still as she stared back at him and was startled when she heard a twig snap. Standing behind them was a young and timid looking blonde genin who was obviously petrified to interrupt them. (The group had unilaterally decided because of her unthreatening appearance she would be least likely to be yelled at by Sasuke so that was why she was sent to disturb them.)

"Um Tenten-sensei, we are all waiting for you to end our training lesson," the girl reminded her as she looked at the ground.

"I will be there in a moment," she told her feeling like an unprofessional idiot.

"Tell my group they all pass and they are free to leave," Sasuke instructed her without taking his eyes off of Tenten.

"Hai," the young genin said before darting away.

Tenten watched her walk away before glaring at Sasuke, "Doesn't it bother you that we are neglecting our duties because of your nonsense?"

A bored light shone in his eyes as he shrugged, "Not particularly."

"Well it bothers me, so I am going back," Tenten said before turning her back on him and marching back to the group.

Sasuke smirked as he watched her stiff posture as she strode back to the class. He had never baited anyone like he had her, but for some reason he just felt compelled to do it. He couldn't stop the corner of his mouth from lifting slightly as he watched her dismiss her group and tell them to come back tomorrow morning for more training.

Tenten looked over her shoulder and saw Sasuke walking toward her and almost wished she had told a few people from her class to stay behind and pick up kunai with her.

_Damn it, now I am alone with him again_. That idiot Uchiha and those perceptive eyes of his. They made her feel exposed to emotions and feelings that she didn't even understand herself.

She took a deep breath and began quickly picking up kunai knives, deciding the best thing to do in this situation was to get away from him a soon as possible.

"Since your group is so pathetic, I decided I will be the lead instructor tomorrow and you will assist me," Sasuke relayed to her in a business like voice as he shoved a bunch of kunai knives in his pack.

Tenten was about to argue with him when she remembered the terms of their bet. Before the competition it had been decided that whoever's team did the best in the competition will decide whose training methods will be used from now on.

_Damn! _She thought as she punched her fist into her hand.

It galled her that he won but there was nothing she could do about it and could only hope that he would compromise with her and let her spend some time teaching them how to throw properly.

Lifting her eyes toward him she was surprised to see he was standing there watching her with unreadable eyes.

"What?" Tenten snapped feeling frustrated as she stared back.

"Tomorrow, you can spend one hour with them before I take over," Sasuke offered gruffly. He crossed his arms and felt he was being very generous.

Shocked that he had offered the very thing that she had been hoping for, but one look at his smug face made her want to punch him. Tenten was beginning to wish she had never been given this teaching position and had never heard of Itachi Uchiha or his brother. This assignment was getting more difficult and annoying by the minute.

"Fine," Tenten conceded sharply. She was a professional after all and would not shirk her duty just because of a jerk like him. Besides those fellow Leaf ninjas needed her guidance.

Sasuke turned away with a slight frown. He had thought she would have been happier with his offer but for some unexplainable reason she still seemed angry with him.

He shook his head and decided that no matter how long he lived he would never understand women. He just knew that down the road when he finally got married he would never let his wife lead him around like his mother does with his father.

"I will see you tomorrow," Tenten said shortly before she slung her pack over her shoulder and starting walking toward the path toward town.

For a moment Sasuke felt like following her before some shred of self-preservation forced him to stay back. Tenten reminded him too much of his mother.

His eyes shifted over to the cluster of trees where his mother had been hiding earlier before he picked up his pack and began heading back towards town.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I am sorry this is so short and not cleaned up all that much. I just wanted to post something to let all of you know I am still alive and still care about writing. I have had a lot of severe family issues to deal with recently and it is hard to write under those circumstances. I have also fallen in love with Japanese and Korean dramas and have been watching them in my spare time. So please forgive me and I will try my best to finish this story and my others. I have written a little bit for Unexpected Welcome and also Christmas Miracle and hopefully will be posting something soon for them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Not So Blunt Differences**

**Chapter 5**

* * *

**~First Annual Konoha Fishing Derby~**

The day dawned sunny and clear, causing anglers all over Konaha to be up bright and early with fishing poles and tackle boxes in hand. Since the Konoha Men's Association and Lawn Club had disbanded under inauspicious circumstances, the popularity of the fishing club had grown by leaps and bounds.

The fishing club president raised his chubby hand and attempted to quiet the rowdy group down. "Listen up," the short bald man said after loudly clearing his throat several times. "The rules are as follows: No fish over 15 inches or under one pound will be accepted. No jutsu is allowed at all, if you are caught using it, you will be disqualified, no exceptions. Your fish must be kept alive until weigh in and dead ones will not be accepted. Official weigh in times are at noon. Good luck and happy fishing."

He looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to him.

"Hey, what is the prize if we win?" One of the anglers asked.

The president pointed to a table that had a large gold trophy that was about 3 times bigger than was necessary and a keg of Nara Beer.

Out in the crowd two participants were especially keen on winning the trophy and were glaring competitively at each other.

"Fugako," the Head of the Hyuuga Clan said with a polite but confident nod.

"Hiashi," the Head of the Uchiha Clan returned and gave him a smug smile. "I have a new lure that is going to bring home that trophy so, prepare to lose."

"We'll see about that," Hiashi replied pleasantly with a secretive smile of his own. "Good luck, my friend."

* * *

Stretching her arms out on the way to the bathroom, Hinata opened up the bathroom window and noticed the sun was shining and it seemed like it was going to be a beautiful day. She was especially glad the weather was nice because she had the day off and was planning to do some gardening on the poor neglected flower garden around their house. She was feeling pretty fired up because she wanted to make the flower borders as lovely as the gardens she used to have at home.

_Home_, her mind still automatically thought of the Hyuuga mansion as home, even after living here for a couple of months. It wasn't that she didn't love her husband and her new home; it was probably just because it had been the home she had always known.

Sometimes when she thought of Neji and Hanabi, she felt homesick and missed seeing them every day and eating breakfast with them. She also missed being part of her clan and being part of their everyday life.

Except for Itachi and his family, the rest of the clan barely acknowledged her existence. To them she was either Itachi-sama's wife or just Hyuuga-san.

As she brushed her teeth, she looked in the mirror and acknowledged that some of it was partially her own fault. She had been so busy doing missions and working in the hospital that she had barely made any time to get to know the Uchiha clan members better.

Taking a deep breath and spitting out the toothpaste into the sink she determined that starting today she was going to make a better effort to fit in around here. After all she did not want to let Itachi down.

Reaching inside the medicine cabinet she took out her birth-control pills and popped one of the blue pills out of the container and put it in her mouth.

She frowned after a moment when she realized it tasted funny, it tasted sweet.

Her eyes opened wide after she swallowed it because she figured out that she had just eaten candy.

She was in the process of looking at the birth-control package when her husband stepped into the bathroom and greeted her with a sleepy kiss on the cheek.

"Um, Itachi?"

"Yes?" he responded distractedly while nibbling the side of her neck.

Hinata began to giggle and scrunch up her neck because his mouth was starting to tickle a sensitive spot near her shoulder area. "Did your mother happen to come by yesterday?"

He thought for a moment before answering, "Yes, she came over after you left, said she needed to borrow some medicine."

Shaking with incredulous laughter, Hinata handed him her birth-control package and sputtered out, "She switched my pills with blue candy."

Itachi rolled his eyes and wondered when she was ever going to stop. He looked at his wife with frustrated amusement before stating, "That's my mother, she'll do anything to get what she wants."

"She sure is determined," Hinata agreed, immediately sobering because she knew their decision to wait on having children was upsetting her mother in law terribly. Turning away from him she opened the cabinet and took out a new package of pills and popped the first one out of it.

After getting dressed, she made him breakfast and wondered if she should go have a talk with her.

* * *

"Enter," the Hokage commanded from behind her enormous desk. Shikamaru and Itachi came through the door and after bowing and greeting her they laid a couple of folders on her desk.

"Report," she ordered before taking a sip of tea and gestured for them to pull up a chair.

Shikamaru looked over at Itachi and received permission to go first.

"Hokage-sama, quarterly sales figures are better than expected causing tax revenues to increase significantly. The economy is doing well and unemployment rates continue to drop."

Itachi continued where he left off, "We have approximately 2,000 trained ninjas on active duty, 100 are on leave and 10 are currently on injured status. Training programs continue to progress well with significant increases in skill proficiency levels occurring, especially at genin and chunin level."

"Any concerns you would like to bring to my attention?" The Hokage asked as she looked over one of the reports in front of her.

Itachi shook his head, but Shikamaru offered, "Over the past few days, there have been several cases of flu, reporting in at the hospital."

Behind her desk the Hokage shrugged, "Sounds pretty typical for this time of year, Shikamaru."

Since he heard the subtle sarcasm in her words telling him to not waste her time with trivial things, he got straight to the point, "Yeah it is, but Hokage-sama, a couple of the patients have not shown any improvement."

Tsunade frowned for a moment before answering him, "Flu can be difficult to treat at times, I am not too concerned yet. I will stop by the hospital this afternoon and assess the situation."

Her eyes glanced back up at them asking if they had any other concerns they wanted to share with her. When she saw they didn't have any, she dismissed them.

As they were walking down the hallway, they saw Lord Jiraiya walking towards them after being away on an assignment for over two years.

"Welcome home, Jiraiya-sama," Itachi and Shikamaru said before they both gave him a respectful bow even though they knew the man was a total perv. Due to their positions as assistants to the Hokage they were given access to details pertaining to his mission and they knew it had been an exceptionally dangerous one.

Jiraiya's booming laugh rang out in surprise at their deference to him. It gave him hope that not all of the next generation was a bunch of idiots. "Well, thank you, I 'm glad to be back," the pervy sanin told them before continuing on to the Hokage's office.

Her door was open just a crack and he marveled at how beautiful she still was after all these years. The only thing that had changed was her temper and the size of her boobs, they just kept getting bigger!

He jumped back when he saw the book coming towards his head. "Stop peeping at my boobs and get in here, Jiraiya," Tsunade yelled.

He rubbed his head with exaggeration, even though the book had missed him by inches. "Is that anyway to greet an old friend?" He asked with a teasing laugh.

"Sit down," she ordered gruffly and was just glad to see him alive and well. It had been months since she had last heard from him and she had been worried.

"You look well, Tsunade," her old friend observed with a warm look at her before adding, "I see you have added some young eye candy to assist you."

Tsunade laughed smugly, "Those "eye candy" are one of the best decisions I have ever made. Since I added them to my staff, Konoha has been prospering like never before."

Jiraiya looked impressed and agreed her choices of assistants were good ones, but her next words surprised him.

"I am planning to make Itachi Uchiha my successor when I retire the end of the year."

"Whaaaat? Are you insane, Tsunade," Jiraiya exploded. "He's an Uchiha, the village and other nations will never accept him."

"He will have the rest of the year to prove himself, if he can't meet the challenge during that time, then I will have to look elsewhere," Tsunade acknowledged with quiet confidence.

Jiraiaya was still shaking his head at her controversial choice of Hokage candidates. "You know it will not be easy for him, people's memories are long and they know the Sharingan has the power to control the Nine-tails Fox."

"True," Tsunade reluctantly agreeing with him, yet her eyes were firm as she stated, "But, I believe if given the chance, he has the ability to become the best Hokage we have ever had, even better than our mentor."

Her friend absorbed her words and knew that was very high praise coming from her. Suddenly a vision of blonde hair and blue eyes entered his head and he had to ask. "What about Naruto?"

Tsunade took a long deep breath, because she knew about his dreams of becoming Hokage and how important it was to him. Especially since he brought it up practically every time she saw him. "I have not ruled him out, but as it stands now, I have Itachi placed before him on my list of possible successors."

"Well, I guess we will just have to wait and see who comes out on top," he said with a grin, deeply thankful that Konoha was blessed with so many strong, young ninjas.

"So, where's my report?" The Hokage asked him and didn't have to wait long because he immediately summoned a frog and for the next hour they discussed the details of his mission.

When they were done, he asked her what her plans were for the evening.

"Well, we are having a festival tonight. There is a fishing derby going on and there will be a barbecue and fireworks to celebrate the winner," she told him while getting out of her seat.

"Come on, let's get lunch," Jiraiya offered as he stood up and began to follow her. "My treat."

"Sounds good," his friend replied before locking the door behind her.

As they walked down the hallway, Jiraiya wondered something and asked, "So, where's Shizune?"

Tsunade laughed, "I gave her a couple of weeks off. Poor thing, she really needed a break from me."

* * *

Hinata knocked on the door again and waited for a few more moments before activating her Byakugan and making sure that Mikoto really wasn't home. She turned away and saw a young Uchiha woman anxiously carrying a one year old baby towards Mikoto's house.

"I'm sorry, Mikoto is not home," Hinata explained politely when the woman moved to walk past her and up to ring the doorbell.

The young woman's face fell at the news and she hugged her baby tighter.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Hinata asked with tentative gentleness.

The young woman looked at her with conflicted eyes for a long moment before nodding and letting the floodgates loose, "Hyuuga-san, please help me. My baby is sick and the medicine they gave me at the doctor's office yesterday is not helping. His fever is still high and I don't know what to do."

Hinata frowned and laid her hand on the baby's forehead and noticed it was burning hot. While Hinata knew she could help take the fever away, the baby need more help than she would be able to give him.

"Come on, I think we should take him to the hospital," Hinata advised, but frowned when she saw the young mother start to become anxious.

"I can't," she said. "I have another child at home and with my husband gone on border duty, I need to find someone to watch her."

"I understand," Hinata responded patiently. "If you want, I can take your baby to the hospital and get him checked in while you return home and find someone to watch your other child."

The young woman looked at Hinata in surprise, like she never expected her to be so nice. "You would do that for me?"

Hinata gave her a puzzled look, "Of course."

"Thank you, Hyuuga-sama," the young mother said with grateful eyes and handed the baby to her. "I will meet you at the hospital just as soon as I can."

Holding the baby and concentrating on using her chakra to absorb the baby's fever, Hinata ran at full speed knowing if she didn't get the baby some IV fluids soon, he was going to be terribly dehydrated.

Once she made it to the hospital, she ran past the check in area and put the child straight in a room. Moments later Sakura was assessing the child while Hinata put an IV in the poor little guy's arm.

A few hours later the grateful mother showed up and Hinata was able to leave. On her way out, the baby's mother said with an apologetic smile, "I don't care what anyone else in the clan says, Hinata-sama, I think Itachi-sama made the right choice in marrying you."

Hinata was so surprised at having her suspicions confirmed that she didn't know how to respond except to say "thanks," and leave.

Much later when Hinata was with her husband watching the fireworks at the festival she told him what had happened, the only part she left out was the part about his clan not accepting her. It was something that she felt she needed to deal with on her own. It was the first time in their short marriage she had kept information from him.

* * *

From her table across the hall, Mikoto watched with increasing dismay as Tenten walked into the tent with a plate full of barbecue and didn't even bother to even glance at Sasuke as she walked past him on the way to her table.

"I watched them today while they were at kunai practice," she told Tsunade in a depressed voice, while pushing the food listlessly around her plate. "All they did was fight the whole time."

Tsunade patted her friend's hand, because she didn't like seeing her in this mood. It wasn't like her at all.

"Hold on, Mikoto, I will be right back," she said before heading up to the stage to announce the winner of the fishing derby.

"This is our very first annual fishing derby and I want to personally thank everyone who supported it today," The Hokage began…

"I was just there for the beer," Shikaku Nara yelled out interrupting her as he lifted his beer can in a drunken solute.

"Anyway," the Hokage continued after shooting Shikamaru's dad a dark look warning him to keep his mouth shut. "I would like to congratulate the winner of today's derby. Come on up here, Fugaku Uchiha."

On his way up to the stage, Fugaku couldn't resist shooting Hiashi a smug look before ascending the stairs. Once up there he did his best to accept the trophy and maintain a carefully composed look of humility as he walked back to the table.

He wasn't stupid and knew if he held the trophy up in victory some of the other clans and villagers would have a fit. He was an Uchiha and he never forgot it. As it was, he still heard plenty of murmurs in the crowd, complaining how the two main clans always won everything.

Tsunade had just sat down across from Mikoto when a commotion broke out at one of the tables. It was a hurricane called, Rock Lee.

"Alright, who was the idiot that gave Lee alcohol?" Tenten yelled out before diving over the table and with Neji's help they tried to contain their drunken team mate. Their sensei was already knocked out cold and was lying on the ground.

It took them several moments, but they finally got him under control. During this whole time, Mikoto watched her son, Sasuke, closely. Not once did he take his eyes off Tenten.

"He likes her, damn it!" she said out loud and stabbed the table with her steak knife. Across from her, Tsunade raised her eyebrows at the knife sticking out and twanging back and forth and laughed.

"Good to see you back, I didn't recognize you before," Tsunade teased her.

Mikoto began to fume as she watched Sasuke, watch Tenten. "He is such a baka, he makes me so mad."

"Mikoto calm down," her friend said trying to soothe her before she got too worked up. "I think I have a way to fix your problem."

Mikoto turned hopefully expectant eyes on her friend.

* * *

The next morning Tenten was standing in front of the Hokage's desk when Sasuke walked through the door and reported in.

_What the hell is he doing here? _ She thought while still keeping her face emotionless.

Sasuke refrained from rolling his eyes when he saw her standing there. He knew what was coming and he knew who was responsible for it.

_Damn it, mother, back off_, he thought mutinously.

"I have orders for the two of you," the Hokage said with a suspiciously pleasant smile.

She turned to Sasuke, "Since you are in ANBU, I am putting you in charge."

"Hai," he responded and didn't miss the slight grimace on Tenten's face.

"Deliver this to Sunagakure and see that it is delivered directly to Gaara. Once there, you will need to stay for the birthday celebration for his sister and then return home. I will expect you back home by the end of the week. Dismissed."

On the way out, dark eyes met brown in a hostile glance.

"I will meet you by the gate in a half hour," Tenten muttered coolly.

"Fine," Sasuke replied shortly before heading out to gather his gear.

**Author's Note:** I got a little stuck while writing for Kismet (75% done) so I needed a change of pace and I have been meaning to update this one for some time. I am not 100% happy with this chapter, but it was necessary for me to move the plot along and set up future chapters. I am looking forward to the next one.


	7. Chapter 7

**Not So Blunt Differences**

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Huge gates stood as the entrance of commerce into the hidden village as well as a protective barrier from evil. As Tenten stepped through them to begin her mission, they meant freedom to her. Giving her sullen team-mate a sideways glance, she welcomed the opportunity to get a way for a few days.

She sighed and was surprised when he wrapped his hand around hers. His fingers were firm as they held onto hers, as if he was reluctant to release her. Her eyes peered down at their hands joined together and frowned. Ever since she had ran into Neji earlier and told him about the mission she was going on, he seemed to be tense, and possibly even a little angry. He was always so unreadable it was hard for her to tell for sure.

Tenten stopped walking and after a quick look around the area she didn't see Sasuke yet. Glancing at the time, she saw she was five minutes early.

_Ha! At least I beat him at something_, she thought and her lips curled up in a wryly competitive smile.

Neji's hand clenched around hers for some unknown reason and Tenten led him over to the side of the gate and after releasing her hand from his grip, she placed her pack on the ground and started rummaging through it.

"I hope I didn't forget anything important," she said out loud with a playful smile and hoped to diffuse the tension between them.

Tenten was glad when Neji said, "here," and handed her a flashlight and his lip quirked into a semi-smile.

"Thanks Neji," she said gratefully as she slipped the flashlight into her pack and stood up. Years ago she had forgotten a poncho on one of their first missions together and it rained the whole time. It was one of the most miserable experiences in her life. Ever since then he had been using his Byakugan to make sure she had everything she needed.

It was something known only to the two of them and had been a running joke for as long as she could remember. The familiarity of the situation eased some of the tension and made her feel a bit more comfortable around him again.

"Well, I'll see you in a few days…" she started to say to him when she felt his hand grip her shoulder just before his mouth suddenly covered hers.

Tenten's eyes flew open and she watched in surprised fascination as his elegantly closed eyes and profile were so near to hers. Part of her had always thought Neji was rather beautiful for a guy and in a lot of ways seemed uninterested in the opposite sex. As his lips moved against hers in an almost seductively possessive kiss, she no longer doubted his preference.

Neji _did_ like girls…and not only that. She could tell by the way his hands pulled her against him and the seriousness of his mouth as it purposefully claimed hers, he also _liked her_.

For just a second, her eyes closed and a small sigh escaped her as she felt herself reluctantly begin to enjoy what was happening between them. A second later hers eyes opened suddenly when she felt a dark and hateful sensation come over her like she was being watched and zapped with lightening.

Looking over Neji's shoulder, she gasped when her glance ran into hard onyx eyes.

Tenten stared back at Sasuke and was taken aback by the anger and reproach in his eyes, before he turned away from her and began to head down the road without waiting for her.

Annoyance shot through her as she watched him leave. How dare he get angry at her, she could kiss whoever the hell she wanted, it was none of his damn business.

_Jerk!_

Neji looked down at her face with concern and saw something in her expression that was making him rather nervous. He had known the Uchiha was coming and had timed their first kiss perfectly. As he looked down the road and saw anger punctuating every step Sasuke took, he knew he did the right thing.

Tenten belonged to him and he had sent the message to his rival loud and clear. He also clarified things with Tenten, who had been a little dense in all of the other attempts he had made over the past few weeks to show her he liked her.

"Neji, I have to go now," she told him with apologetic brown eyes. She was relieved when he became her team-mate again and gave her a firm nod.

"Be careful, Tenten, watch your back," he reminded her and tried to keep the worry from showing in his eyes.

"I will Neji," she said with a slight smile. "I know, I won't have you there to watch it for me," she told him as she turned away from him in acknowledgement that he always watches over her.

"I will see you when I get back," Tenten yelled just before she sped down the road after Sasuke.

* * *

"Hinata-dear, come look at this one, I've never seen a more beautiful pink color in my life!" Mikoto called over to her from a few rows over at the garden section of Konoha's largest home improvement store. "It is absolutely stunning!"

Smiling at her mother-in-law's enthusiasm, she hurried over to her side and she had to agree for once Mikoto was not exaggerating; the pink color was bright, lovely and clearly one of a kind in its uniqueness.

Soon her eyes became unfocused as she mentally planned a section of her garden. If she bought one of these, she could surround it with delicate phlox and some white and red rose bushes and it would be the focal point of her lovely new garden.

Itachi had been helping whenever he could, but he wasn't home very much. So, in her spare time she began to show as much love to her new garden as she did in the one she left behind at the Hyuuga mansion.

Hinata glanced around and noticed her mother-in-law was eyeing the bush as well and her eyes darted around to see if there was another one, so they both could have one.

Her face fell when she noticed none of the other rose bushes even came close to that one, it was special. Without hesitation, Hinata said, "Mother, you saw it first, I want you to have it."

Mikoto's eyes were warm as she placed her hand on Hinata's face, "Dear, are you sure? I already have lots of roses at home."

Her daughter-in-law nodded and smiled, "Of course its fine, it would look great near your walkway, by your front…" she was saying, but stopped when a middle-aged woman rudely pushed past both of them and picked up the rose bush and put it in her cart and left muttering in an affronted voice, "Hyuugas' and Uchihas' can't have everything around here."

Shocked, Hinata watched the woman leave before Mikoto pulled her off to the side and glanced around to see if anyone was near them.

"What was that about?" Hinata asked her as a frown slid over her forehead.

"I am surprised you haven't run into this before," Mikoto commented and rested her hand on Hinata's arm.

"Well, um… I have been away a lot on missions and working in the hospital," Hinata reminded her and kept her eyes on Itachi's mom. She had a feeling Mikoto had been keeping something from her.

A small guilty smile slid over the older woman's face before she admitted more seriously, "I probably should have told you sooner, but since you and Itachi have gotten married, and Fugaku and your father have reconciled, a lot of rumors have been swirling around, saying our two clans are trying to take over the village."

As though rose colored blinders had fallen off her eyes, Hinata looked around her anxiously and began to remember other incidences over the past few months, where she had just brushed off comments or looks as simple gossip about her and Itachi. Being in the spotlight of village gossip as they undoubtedly were all the time, had made her uncomfortable, as did the way people's eyes would naturally go from her face to her stomach now, anticipating that she would soon be expecting.

Her thoughts immediately turned to Itachi and a sense of dread began to overcome her when she thought of how the rumors might affect his chances at becoming…

Hokage.

Mikoto watched the emotions flit over her daughter-in-law's sweet face and was easily able to read them. Her eyes were compassionate, but also a little firm as she realized Hinata was going to have to have thicker skin and toughen up if she wanted to help Itachi reach his new position.

"Dearest, this problem is not going to go away over night," Mikoto told her wisely and lowered her voice as she added with a slight amount of bitterness, "You are an Uchiha now and soon you will realize our clan is highly valued and respected in Konoha, but we are also feared."

"I know," Hinata said almost in a whisper and knew Mikoto spoke the truth. Her heritage as a Hyuuga, with her pearly-white, all seeing Byakugan was regarded far differently, than the sinister and powerful Sharingan of the Uchiha clan. The red eyes and violent past of the clan had a way of invoking fear and distrust in people around them.

Mikoto wrapped her arms around her and gave her a big hug, she hated seeing her upset and wished there was more she could do to help her. "Hinata, don't worry about it too much, just be yourself and over time people will come around," she said in a soothing voice.

Hinata felt a little bit better and knew she wasn't alone and was grateful for the support of her new family as well as her old one. Her relationship with her father and sister as it stood now had never been better or stronger.

"Thanks mom," she said and returned the hug. "Do you want to get some lunch?"

Mikoto gave her a misty eyed look at how informally Hinata called her mom. She had been trying for some time to break through her daughter-in-law's protective and formal shell she had around her and teach her to be more relaxed and open.

"Sure, dear…just let me go pay for these items…" she said and headed toward the checkout line. Just before she got there an ANBU agent appeared before her out of nowhere and Mikoto almost ran him over with her cart.

"Lady Uchiha, the Hokage wants to see you right away!" The agent said urgently before fading out.

Alarmed and very pale, Mikoto shot Hinata a worried look.

"I will pay for this stuff and carry it home for you," Hinata said calmly as she took the cart from her. Her eyes widened in surprise as she watched her mother-in-law, dressed in her stylish clothes, form a series of rapid hand signals and fade out just like the ANBU agent did a few moments ago. Reminding her that Mikoto used to be a Jonin-level ninja before she married Fugaku and had Itachi and Sasuke.

As she went up and paid for the plants, she hoped nothing serious was going on…

* * *

Tsunade pushed two large stacks of papers toward the edge of her desk and whined, "I am so exhausted."

"More like bored," Shikamaru said under his breath as he shot Itachi a long suffering look. He saw out of the stack of papers, she had taken out only two sheets and passed the rest of the assignments, tedious complaints, mission reports, etc., on to them.

"Shikamaru," the Hokage said while reading one of the forms she had kept, "Did you say something?"

An urgent knock sounded on the door and saved him from getting into trouble and he wasted no time answering it. He was surprised when Itachi's mother pushed him out of the way and ran into the office.

"Tsunade," she said anxiously while trying to catch her breath. "I came as fast as I could."

"Mikoto," the Hokage said dramatically with a large grin as she leaned back in her chair. "Pack your bags, because we're going on vacation!"

Before she could answer, Kakashi came through the door and for once he was in a hurry. His mask was even slightly askew. The ANBU member told him it was an emergency and he said the Hokage needed to see him STAT. He thought the village was under attack or something.

It only took him a second to sum up the extremely non-urgent situation, and after releasing a sigh, he slumped down in the nearest chair and pulled out one of his orange books and started reading.

"So Kakashi, you CAN move fast when you have to," she joked with a bark of laughter.

He gave her a cool glance over his book and was not amused. "Did you need something, Lady Hokage?"

"I need you to be Acting Hokage for a week," Tsunade said without beating around the bush.

When Kakashi looked like he would rather spend the whole week doing extreme calisthenics with Guy and Lee then be Hokage, she added, "In name only."

The blonde Hokage's eyes were firm as she gestured in Itachi and Shikamaru's direction, "They will be doing all of the hard work. Shikamaru will assist Itachi and you will only be contacted in the direst of emergencies. The only thing I need you to do is come in the mornings and sit in that chair and pretend to be the Hokage."

Shrugging nonchalantly, Kakashi was relieved. He was one of the few people who knew about the Hokage's plan to name Itachi as her successor and he knew that information was a highly classified secret. He had a feeling this week was going to be a piece of cake for him with nothing to do except for catching up on a little reading. "When do you want me to start?"

Tsunade got up from her chair and gave Mikoto a sideways glance bursting with joy and anticipation of getting away for the first vacation she has had in three years. "Uh, now," she said and moved out of his way.

Kakashi got up and slouched down in the chair and put his feet up on the desk and started reading his book.

_Not much different than normal_, Itachi thought conveying it to Shikamaru who rolled his eyes and returned, _I know_.

Tsunade linked arms with Mikoto and just before she opened the door she turned and said, "Don't let me down, geniuses…or else," she cracked her knuckles.

Unperturbed Itachi bowed, "Enjoy your vacation, Lady Hokage, Konoha will be fine."

"I know," Tsunade said seriously after giving him a long and solemn look. "I wouldn't be leaving if I didn't believe that," she told him and swept grandly out the door.

Mikoto hugged her son and couldn't keep the pride from shining in her eyes, "I'm so proud of you, Itachi."

"Thank you, Mother," he said before mentioning in her ear, "You might want to stop by the bank before you go." He reached in his pocket and placed a large wad of cash into her hands.

"Thanks son," his mother said with a knowing smile, already anticipating her friend's gambling and spending habits. "Your father will happily pay for everything!"

She moved to leave and turned back and looked at him as if just remembering something, "Oh Itachi, please ask Hinata if she will take over my clan duties while I am gone."

"I will," he told her and thought this might be a good opportunity for her to get to know some of the members of the clan better.

* * *

Humming to herself cheerfully while she packed, Mikoto pulled out a long black evening dress and some high heels to match it. She was just starting to put her toiletries and make-up bag together when her husband walked in their bedroom.

"How long will you be gone," he asked and his mind was already thinking about the new fishing rod and reel he had just bought and all of the night-fishing he could do with it.

"A week," his wife answered absently as she looked over which shade of lipstick she should pack and ended up throwing in both into the bag.

_A week_, her husband repeated almost longingly in his mind. A whole week of fishing, with no one to stop him, it sounded like a little bit of heaven to him. He could have Itachi and Sasuke take over the clan while she was gone and he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he felt like it.

His eyes glanced in Mikoto's direction and he saw she was watching him closely.

_Shit_, he cursed mentally and knew he needed to tone down his happiness or he was going to get it. His face immediately became downcast as if he was really sad to see her leave.

He put his hand on her shoulder, "I will miss you while you are gone."

_Liar_, Mikoto thought as she snapped together her suitcase. A slow smile came over her face as she happened to mention. "I took some money out of the bank to pay for the trip...I took out xxx …"

Fugaku blanched when he heard the amount, it was excessive even for her.

"Well dear, if you want... you could always come with us," Mikoto suggested innocently.

As she predicted, Fugaku didn't say a word about how much she was spending and began helping her out the door. "Have a good trip," he said after he kissed her goodbye.

"Goodbye dear, I will see you when I get back," Mikoto said with a victorious laugh as she took off down the road to meet Tsunade.

**Author's Note:** I have been working hard on Itachi's Ghost, but had to stop when this story kept calling to me. I have the next chapter all plotted out and plan to have some fun with it. Sasuke/Tenten and Itachi/Hinata coming up next. Please read and review!

Naruto anime/manga notes (Spoiler): I have been getting caught up and the latest manga chapters are awesome (582)! I also watched the fight between Sasuke and Danzo and thought it was great.


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